September 19: Generational poverty in Philly | Richmond revival | Homicides rise

Steve Volk takes a long, hard look at generational poverty in Philly and a few solutions too.

Michael Bixler walks along Richmond Street, where new investment and businesses in old buildings have “stirred inspiration” for what this sleepy corridor in Port Richmond could be. Joe Livewell of the new River Wards Cafe told Bixler, “Some people ask me ‘Are you trying to change the neighborhood?’ No. I’m trying to build community, bring back business gradually, and return Richmond Street to its prime.”

Pennsylvania’s tax credit program for historic preservation was the 30th passed in the nation and was hard-won after years of statewide advocacy. Is PA’s preservation tax credit working and is it enough? Alan Jaffe looks back at the credit established in 2012 for Keystone Crossroads.

Claudia Vargas explains how Philly’s Fund Balance got so low and the perpetual political predicament of raising taxes or cutting spending.

At the end of a bloody week in Philly, the Inquirer looked into why Philly’s homicide rate is ticking up, while other types of violent crime are not. There are no easy explanations – but could it be ‘the Ferguson Effect’ or depolicing? Or is it that too many homicides remain unsolved?

The debate over Toll Brothers’ proposed development at Jewelers’ Row continued in dueling opinion pieces in the Inquirer this weekend. The Preservation Alliance’s Paul Steinke argues that the district’s character is at stake and the dreamed-of new residents and customers are already coming. Jeffrey Barsky, an owner of a Jewelers’ Row business, penned a letter in support of the plan to raze and redevelop six properties at Jewelers Row, persuaded by a potential increase in property values and fear that historic preservation would suppress that potential.

At Camac and Pine stands a time capsule of a house in need of a sensitive buyer willing to restore it.